Final Fantasy XI is the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game to be released in the Final Fantasy series. It debuted in Japan on the Sony PlayStation 2 on May 16, 2002 and was released for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers on November 5 of the same year.
| Final Fantasy XI | |
|---|---|
| File:Final Fantasy XI logo.jpg | |
| Developer(s) | Square Co., Ltd. |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 |
| Release | May 16, 2002 (Japan) See release dates section for more details. |
| Genre(s) | MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
On October 28, 2003, Final Fantasy XI was released in North America on the personal computer along with the first expansion Rise of the Zilart, with a PlayStation 2 release on March 23, 2004. It will also be available on the XBox 360 in late 2005. Final Fantasy XI is the first cross platform MMORPG, as both PC and console versions connect to the same servers.
A fee of $12.95 USD is charged monthly for the first content ID, and $1.00 USD for any additional content ID afterward. Final Fantasy XI was scored by Nobuo Uematsu, Naoshi Mizuta, and Kumi Tanioka. The expansion packs were scored by Mizuta alone.
The second expansion to the game, Chains of Promathia, was released in Japan on September 16, 2004, and a bundled version of the game complete with the two expansion packs was released in Europe. Five days later, on September 21, 2004, the expansion was released in North America for $30 USD. In addition, the US version of the full game plus the two expansions was released as a single DVD-ROM called "The Vana'diel Collection" on August 16, 2005. A third expansion, Treasures of Aht Urhgan, is in the making right now (November 2005).
The World
Final Fantasy XI takes place in a world named Vana'diel.
Ther are currently 31 servers available for play. These worlds are named after summoned creatures from earlier Final Fantasy games (Diabolos, Ifrit, Ramuh etc.). PC and PS2 (and the upcoming Xbox 360) players from across all nationalities play together on all servers.
A player is allocated to a random world when they create their first character. Subsequent characters will be assigned to the same server unless the player has obtained a world pass to another server. A worldpass (a 10-digit passcode), when given to a player will allow the player access to a particular world. Once on a world, a player may not move to another world, except during World Migration which only happens when there is inbalance in server population.
The four main cities in Vana'diel are the cities of Bastok, San d'Oria, Windurst, and Jeuno. The rest of Vana'diel is made up of a number of outdoor, dungeon, and minor town areas that have a complex topology. While most areas are accessible by walking, various modes of transportation facilitate movement. Each area in FFXI is quite large and much of the game play consists of getting from point A to point B.
Forms of Transportation
- Walking
- Chocobo (Requires completion of the quest to acquire a license)
- Ferry (Selbina-Mhaura and vice-versa)
- Airship (Requires an Airship Pass which one can purchase or earn by getting Rank 5)
- Teleport (White Mage spell)
- Warp (Black Mage spell)
- Outpost Teleport (Requires completion of Regional Supply quest)
People and Politics
Races
There are five races that a player may choose from in Final Fantasy XI:
- Elvaan — the "Elves" of Final Fantasy XI. Being proud, the Elvaan consider themselves better than the other races. There are male and female Elvaan. They founded the Kingdom of San d'Oria and the Marquisiate of Tavnazia.
- Hume — An adaptable race most resembling humans. There are male and female Humes. They formed the Republic of Bastok using the mineral resources of the surrounding area.
- Galka — large, beast-like humanoids who possess incredible strength and endurance. The Galka reproduce through reincarnation and therefore have no specific gender, though the race is generally considered male. They form the minority population of the Republic of Bastok but originated in the lands of Kuzotz in the far south, where their civilization was destroyed by the Antican beastmen.
- Mithra — Cat-like humanoids with agility and grace. There are very few male Mithra and only females venture into Vana'diel. They live in the Federation of Windurst and the tropical island of Kazham. It has been hinted that Mithras from Kazham come from an southern island known as Tsahya.
- Zilart — An ancient race that existed 10,000 years before the present events. They look similar to Humes and are exceedingly intelligent. They possessed a trait known as the "whisper of the soul," which is most likely telepathy. An offshoot of the Zilart formed without this trait, known as the Kuluu, and were treated as lesser beings by the Zilart. (similar to the Enlightened Ones and the Earthbound from the SNES RPG Chrono Trigger). The Zilart's ultimate plan was to open a gateway to Al'Taieu, the Paradise of the gods, using a massive system called the Gate of the Gods. The Gate was to be powered by the energy of Vana'diel's five Mothercrystals, channelled through giant power conduits to a central point at Delkfutt's Tower. They constructed a grand capitol city named Tu'Lia, which is levitated into the sky by the channeling of the Mothercrystals' power. Tu'Lia was to be the gate, but at the moment of activation, the Kuluu sabotaged the Gate's power source, resulting in a cataclysmic meltdown that wiped out the land (known later as the Meltdown). In the game's first expansion "Rise of the Zilart," two surviving Zilartian princes are revealed -- the Jeunoan Archduke Kam'lanaut, and his elder brother Eald'narche. Their continued attempts to open the Gate of the Gods is the focus of the Rise of the Zilart storyline. In the game's second expansion "Chains of Promathia," the Zilart are revealed to be alive and well, and a survivor of the Kuluu is also present.
Beastmen
There are different races that oppose the original 5, called the Beastmen. These are made up of the following species, which together follow the Shadow Lord behind the original story's misfortunes:
- Aerns (Lumoria/Al'Taeiu/Sea's version of beastmen.)
- Antica (Ant-like humanoids.)
- Bugbears (Genetically enhanced Moblin slaves.)
- Corses (Undead beastmen.)
- Demons (Call themselves the "Kindred.")
- Fomors (Undead versions of the 5 races.)
- Gigas (Giants.)
- Goblins
- Moblins (A tribe of goblins that are mobile.)
- Orcs (Orcish brutes.)
- Quadav (Turtle-like humanoids.)
- Sahagin (Fish-like humanoids.)
- Tonberries (Kuluu mutated by the Meltdown.)
- Yagudo (Bird-like humanoids.)
National Allegiance
At the start of the game, players may choose whether to side with Bastok, San d'Oria or Windurst. Players who select the "Home Nation" for their specific race get a nation specific ring. The objective of implementing national allegiances is to fight for your country and help it conquer as much of Vana'diel as possible. Engaging in succesful battles (while having Signet on) with the enemy in each region will earn Regional Influence points for the Nation the player character belongs to. At the end of every week (at midnight Japan time on sunday night), a Conquest Tally will be conducted. The Nation with the highest influence will control the region for the week. If the ratio of player deaths to beastmen deaths gets too high, the region falls under Beastmen control, preventing many of these activities until a nation regains control.
Advantages of controlling a region include:
- Regional Vendors will now supply Regional products to your home nation.
- Outpost Teleport will now be cheaper for that region.
- Ability to renew Signet at the Outpost or any outpost guard.
- Ability to set Homepoint in the region with no charge
Job Selections
One of Final Fantasy XI's most dynamic features is the flexibility of its job system, adapted from previous Final Fantasy titles. Players are able to change their jobs in their residence freely and without penalty, allowing the player to experiment with a variety of play styles before settling on a single one.
There are currently (November 2005) a total of 15 jobs to choose from. Players may choose one of the following six basic Jobs to start with:
Standard Jobs
- Warrior (WAR): A melee class with high proficiency in many weapon types, especially the Great Axe or one-handed Axe. Offensively and defensively balanced. The WAR's main ability is Provoke, which draws the attention of the target. In party mode, this is often used to protect magic-wielding jobs when they draw the enemy's attention. Another Warrior ability is Double Attack, which randomly adds a second strike to a melee attack. The Warrior's 2-hour ability, Mighty Strikes, guarantees critical hits for 30 seconds.
- Thief (THF): A melee class with crucial enmity control abilities. In party situations, responsible for managing enmity with high-damage back-stabbing abilities. Thieves often use daggers, swords or hand-to-hand weapons to deal massive spike damage. At level 15, Thieves gain a technique called Sneak Attack, which causes a high damage critical hit when positioned behind an enemy. At level 30, Thieves gain the Trick Attack ability which requires them to attack the mob behind another Player Character. Thsi will then transfer the enmity to the player character inf ront of the thief. At this point, Thieves are able to perform SATA, an acronym for Sneak-Attack-Trick-Attack, which involves activating both of those abilities to create and transfer a large amount of enmity to another party member (when the party member is behind the enemy, between the Thief and target). Thief abilities besides SATA include Steal, which sometimes robs opponents of items, and Flee, which increases movement speed. The Thief's 2-hour ability, Perfect Dodge, allows the Thief to dodge all melee attacks for the next 30 seconds (although ranged attacks and magic will still hit normally).
- Monk (MNK): A melee class with high HP and damage output. Almost always found with Hand-to-Hand weapons, the Monk also has some proficiency with staves. Monk abilities include Boost, a stackable ability which increases the power of the next melee attack, and Chi Blast, a long-range energy attack. The Monk's 2-hour ability, Hundred Fists, enables nonstop melee attacks for 30 seconds.
- White Mage (WHM): A mage class that specializes in healing and restorative magic, as well as enhancing and some enfeebling magic. White mages use clubc and staves almost exclusively and may also equip shields. White Mage abilities include Divine Seal, which doubles the power of the next curative spell, and Auto-Regen, which gives constant HP regeneration. The White Mage's 2-hour ability, Benediction, instantly restores full HP to the whole party. The downside of using Benediction during battle is an extreme increase in enmity toward the White Mage due to sheer amount of HP healed.
- Black Mage (BLM): A mage class that specializes in "nuking" by using damaging magic. Black Mages use staves and clubs almost exclusively and, unlike the White Mage, may equip very few shields. Black Mage abilities include Elemental Seal, which raises the accuracy of the next spell cast, and Conserve MP, which may randomly lower the MP cost of a spell. The Black Mage's 2-hour ability is Manafont, which allows the player to cast spells without consuming MP, which cannot be interrupted, for 30 seconds.
- Red Mage (RDM): A mage/melee hybrid class with particular aptitude for enhancing and enfeebling magic. It is a point of some contention whether low-level RDMs are better off using their weapons in combat or staying back with the other mages, though it is generally preferred that they choose the latter at higher levels. Red Mages may equip a variety of weapons from swords and daggers for melee damage to wands and staves for stat bonuses. Particular interest of this job is the exclusive Red Mage spell of Refresh which regenerates a total of 150 MP at 3 MP every 3 seconds. Red Mage abilities include Fast Cast, which quickens spellcasting, and Convert, which swaps current HP and MP pools. The Red Mage's 2-hour ability, Chainspell, allows instantaneous and uninterruptible spellcasting for 30 seconds.
Extra Jobs
Once a player attains level 30 with any one of the above classes, the player may complete quests to obtain the extra jobs:
- Samurai (SAM): A melee class that specialises in performing skillchains. Excels in gaining TP due to job specific abilities. Samurai wield 2-handed Great Katanas almost exclusively. Samurai abilities include Store TP, which increases TP gain, and Meditate, which quickly generates TP. Samurai are also strong against demons. The Samurai's 2-hour ability, Meikyo Shisui, generates 300 TP, and allows the user to execute weapons skills by expending only 100 TP (instead of draining the TP pool completely) -- a Samurai with 300 TP can thus execute three weapon skills, and effectively "Skill Chain," while under the effect of Meikyo Shisui.
- Dragoon (DRG): A melee/pet class with the ability to summon a Wyvern and perform jump attacks. The polearm (i.e. lance or spear) is the Dragoon's main weapon. Dragoon abilities include Super Jump, which allows the Dragoon to leap high into the air, escaping danger for 5 seconds, and Spirit Link, which heals the wyvern. At level 60, Dragoons are able to wear their Artifact Armor helmet, which drastically increases the effectiveness of the Wyvern. If the dragoon's subjob is of a mage class, when the dragoon, or someone in the dragoon's party is at critical health, and the dragoon casts any magic spell, the Wyvern will cast a 'healing breath' on the party member. The same technique may remove status ailments using a similar 'breath'. Dragoons are very strong against dragons. The Dragoon's 2-hour ability, Call Wyvern, allows it to summon the wyvern.
- Dark Knight (DRK): A melee class possessing very high attack, low defense, and capable of casting some black magic spells. Commonly uses a Scythe and/or Great Sword. Dark Knight abilities include Souleater, which sacrifices HP for added attack damage, and Last Resort, which sacrifices defense for added attack damage. Dark Knights are very strong against arcana. The DRK's 2-hour ability, Blood Weapon, produces a large HP drain effect for every melee attack for 30 seconds.
- Ninja (NIN): A melee class that specializes in evasion and uses "Ninjutsu" (Ninja skill) magic. Generally plays the role of a "blink tank," by repeatedly casting "Utsusemi" to create shadow images that absorb all damage. It was thought that a recent update which decreases enmity for every "shadow" that is hit would cause Ninja to be harder pressed to "Blink Tank" effectively, however SE (Square Enix) has embraced Ninja tanking and provided blink tank friendly gear for ninjas of all levels. In addition the amount of "hate" lost to a Ninja per shadow hit seems to be lower than originally expected. Ninja can also use other types of "Ninjutsu" to inflict damage and enfeeble their opponent. Ninja almost always use a pair of 1-handed katanas for weapons. Ninja abilities include Stealth, which reduces the chance of being detected by enemies, and Dual Wield, which allows the Ninja to equip two weapons at once. The Ninja's 2-hour ability, Mijin Gakure, is a suicide attack that deals damage with no experience penalty for the death. Side note: Emnity loss on shadow hit has acctually made dual tanking of HNM (Hyper Notorious Monsters) easier as one Ninja Blink tank no longer gets stuck with too much hate.
- Summoner (SMN): A mage class that is able to summon, at a certain MP/second cost, magical avatars (known as summons, espers, GFs, eidolons, or aeons in past FFs) to aid in battle. The currentlist of Prime Avatars are: Titan, Leviathan, Garuda, Ifrit, Shiva, Ramuh, Carbuncle and Fenrir. The list of spirit pacts with the game's 8 cardinal elements are: Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Ice, Lightning, Light, and Dark. Summoners must battle and defeat each of the Prime Avatars before being able to summon them. Summoners use staves and clubs primarily. Summoner abilities include Blood Pact, which enables the avatar to use its own abilities, and Auto-Refresh (constant MP regeneration). Various avatars have their own special abilities. The Summoner's 2-hour ability, Astral Flow, inflicts a 3 minute status on the Summoner during which Avatars no longer cost MP to remained summoned and the Avatar is now able to use thier Special Ability (which is their traditional attack in previous FFs). They are also capable of party enhancement spells, via the Blood Pact ability.
- Paladin (PLD): A melee class who possess very high defense, low attack and are capable of casting some white magic spells. Paladins are often found with swords, but may be seen using staves or greatswords as well. Paladin abilities include Shield Bash, a blunt attack, and Cover, which allows the Paladin to take damage in place of a party member. Paladins are strong against the undead. The Paladin's 2-hour ability, Invincible, reduces all damage taken by the Paladin to 0 for 30 seconds. In addition, Invincible generates the highest amount of enmity of any action in the game -- Paladins often use Invincible in tandem with the White Mage's Benediction ability, to counter the high enmity generated by the latter.
- Beastmaster (BST): A pet/melee class that can tame monsters to do their bidding. Beastmasters are the only job capable of gaining significant experience points without a group above the lowest levels. Beastmasters are commonly found with an axe. Abilities include Charm, which tames monsters, Call Beast, which creates a pet that lasts 20+ minutes, and Sic, which commands pets to perform their special attack. Beastmasters are very strong against a multitude of enemy types. The Beastmaster's 2-hour ability, Familiar, extends the duration of a charm, and slightly increases pet potency.
- Ranger (RNG): A melee class that specialises in ranged weapons. Because ammunition is expensive, Rangers essentially pay for their damage output and the upper limit on what can be spent (and thus how much damage can be dealt) is very high. Rangers use bows, crossbows, guns for ranged damage as well as daggers or axes for close-range melee damage. Ranger abilities include Barrage, which fires multiple arrows at once, and Shadowbind, which binds a target in place. However, due to an update regarding the mechanics of the class late-July 2005, Ranger's pay-what-you-deal ratio was severely curbed by an average of 30% less damage-per-hit if the Ranger continues to use the old play style. The mechanics of the new update include an accuracy/hitpower ratio depending on how far away the ranger is from the target, and depending on what weapon the ranger wields. The Ranger now requires to position himself at the appropriate distance for each type of ranged weapon for optimum damage to be dealt. The Ranger's 2-hour ability, Eagle Eye Shot, is an instantaneous ranged attack with tremendous power and accuracy.
- Bard (BRD): A mage class that specialises in enhancing and enfeebling songs. Although Bards are considered a mage class, they do not require MP to do their job. Bards equip instruments as ranged weapons and also light melee weaponry including clubs and daggers. Bards are particularly favored for their area of effect (AOE) sleep song and their group MP regeneration song. Besides their songs, Bards have only four job abilities: three passive Resist Silence traits, and the 2-hour ability, Soul Voice, which doubles the effect of songs.
Support Job (Sub Job)
Additionally, once the player has attained level 18 on any job, he may complete a Support Job quest. Upon completion, the player will now be able to add a support job to complement their abilities. This support job may be any other job that the player has. Support Jobs operate at a maximum of half the level of the player's main job, and gives the character abilities, spells and stat bonuses from that job at that level.
Level Cap
The current maximum level in Final Fantasy XI is 75. Level limits are placed at 50, 55, 60, 65, and 70. They are typically referred to as Genkai (level limit) 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 respectively. For instance, a character who has not finished Genkai 1 will not be able to level to 51 until he or she completes the quest for Genkai 1. Once achieving level 75, a character may continue to earn experience points for two reasons: to get a "buffer" for exp so that exp losses due to deaths do not cause the character to return to level 74, and to earn merit points to be traded in to raise specific stats and gain other enhancements.
Details
- Final Fantasy Theme — includes familiar elements from previous Final Fantasies, including music, jobs, spells, summons, items, monsters, Moogles, Chocobos, and the character Cid.
- Job System — A game system adapted from previous entries in the Final Fantasy series, the job system offers untold flexibility in class selection. By visiting their player residence, players can change jobs freely and without penalty. Additionally, players can later add a "support job" to further enhance and customize their character. Currently, with the 15 jobs there are, a total of 210 different combinations of jobs are possible.
- Map — The world is broken up into different regions, and then zones. Regions are a composite of zones (Sarutabaruta is comprised of Eastern and Western Sarutabaruta, as well as the Inner and Outer Horutoto Ruins). Zones, such as the Inner Horutoto ruins, are where the action actually takes place. Moving from one zone to the next requires loading of data, and monsters cannot pursue you from one zone to the next (this is called "zoning"). On the other hand, this lets the game present different sets of graphics/music/monsters in different zones without taxing your computer/PS2.
- Party System — FFXI forces players to play as groups more so than other MMORPGs. Not only are there functions that facilitate the formation of parties, the experience gain system assures that one must play as a group in order to gain levels past the beginner stage. This allows jobs (classes) that are solely designed for support of parties, such as Bards, to play a much more significant role than solo play. After around the first 10 or so levels, players party as enemies jump in difficulty. Parties can accommodate up to 6 players each, and for more difficult missions and quests, up to three parties can form an alliance to work together to take down difficult foes. However, this system is not without faults. For instance, a party may have enough of 1 class as it is, leaving the player that's looking for a party out of luck. There is also sometimes tension between the English speaking players and the Japanese speaking players.
- Storyline — Though there are thousands of players, any one player can still achieve a sense of individual heroism by completing quests and missions. Cutscenes and conversations with NPCs place you as an important character who participates with the plot as it progresses. From the player's first steps in their starting city to important tasks completed for certain characters, the player is treated as if he or she is the first to interact with such characters, giving the impression of such events taking place in the present moment.
Other players do not view NPC interaction, despite being in the same area, so NPCs are never "busy" talking to multiple players at once. However, some NPCs may turn to face a player's character and stay in that position until another player's character interact with that specific NPC. Some cutscenes do include other players, such as party members participating in a quest or mission.
Quests provide some story and interaction with NPCs, while missions give a more linear and developed plot. Later missions include a dramatic backstory, and even a final boss that can be defeated, though gameplay still continues. This is a significant difference from many other MMORPGs.
There are six major plots in the game:
- Sandoria Storyline
- Bastok Storyline
- Windurst Storyline
- Zilart Storyline
- Dynamis Storyline
- Chains of Promathia Storyline
The newest plots are often not available in their entirety at first, and are unlocked gradually over time.
- Item Synthesis — FFXI has a fairly complex item synthesis system, in which players use Crystals obtained by fighting the various beastmen to turn specific combinations of items into other items. Different recipes, using different classes of ingredients and different Craft skills will produce different types of items. For example, items produced by the Alchemy craft skill under the guidance of the Alchemist's Guild tend to be medicines and antidotes, whereas items produced by Smithing and Leathercrafting tend to be armors of various sorts, and Goldsmithing crafts rings and other accessories. A player may raise in rank within a Guild as their skill for that craft increases, giving them access to item recipes whose products grant higher benefits or net the player more profit. The main flow of profit for crafters in game is the creation of "HQ" or "High Quality" synthing. These "HQ" items are synthesis of an item whose cap is lower than that of the player's craft skill level. Generally as the gap between both recipe cap and player craft level increases the higher chance of a HQ synth occurring. These items usually provide better stats than their "NQ" or "Normal Quality" counterparts. These "HQ" items are sometimes regarded by the community as a must have; however, most of the time it is considered a status item, an item that reveals that a player has considerable in game wealth or devotion to a job. Much of the best equipment within the game may not be bought from NPCs, and must be crafted. Additionally, many of the items dropped by high level monsters in the game are used in the synthesis of this equipment.
Game Economy
- Overview — FFXI has an almost entirely player-based economy, with a heavy reliance on the Auction Houses in each of the major cities of Vana'diel. Usually when monsters are fought in FFXI, they do not drop gil, instead dropping logical items; i.e. Crawlers (a type of caterpillar-like creature) occassionally drop Silk Thread used in crafting. Most players have no immediate use for this silk thread, and instead sell it to other players who do need it. The Auction House is the primary method of moneymaking within the game, as well as the primary method of obtaining many weapons, magic scrolls, and synthing materials, in contrast to a system similar to that of other Final Fantasy games or MMORPGs where items are bought and sold to NPC vendors.
- Financial Situation : Since Final Fantasy XI has been 'live' for over three years, the game economy has expanded as more and more players acquire more and more gil and items. As time passes, there will be more game currency in any given server economy. This has lead to a natural inflation of item prices, both of general consumables (food, potions, etc.) and transferable assets (armor, weapons, accessories, and the like). Hard figures are unknown, but it would not be far-fetched to assume that some (if not many) servers may have a GDP of well over a trillion Gil. However, because there are servers that have been online for far longer than others, the Purchasing power parity of players on World X may differ greatly from that of players on World Y. The massive difference in Purchasing Power Parity between servers has been a source consternation for many players, most obviously ones situated on servers with high inflation rates. The laissez faire nature of the economy means there are few price control measures that Square Enix can enact to curb, what many players see, as rampant inflation. As is detailed below, many players are content to blame inflation problems on "Gil Sellers" while not taking into account that inflation is inevitable whenever more and more currency is introduced into an economy. Futhermore, as trans-server trade of Gil or game items is not possible, inflation, and what is effectivly a Consumer Price Index, will continue to rise; regardless of the effect of Gil selling, or real-money transfers (RMT), for in-game currency and items. Also, many fail to realize that there is much more to the situation than how much in-game currency is in the system. This leads many players to post to numerous bulletin boards suggesting various "gilsinks".
Ballista (PvP System)
Final Fantasy XI's Player versus Player system, also known as PvP, is an unique system where players do not incur the loss of experience points. Rather, players pay an event NPC to participate in the "Ballista" event. A minimum of 6 players, 3 on each team, is required for the Ballista event to start. Players may choose to represent their own nation or another nation. Players are normally defaulted to their own nation, unless there are not enough players for the opposing team. The event NPC will make all attempts to balance out both teams as evenly as possible. Recent changes to the Ballista system rewards players experience points after the event is over and rewards the winning team some money. The objective in Ballista is to find hidden stones called "Petra" using the special "Quarry" command which is only permitable when participating in Ballista. Also included is a "Sprint" command that increases a player's speed temporary if he or she is not carrying any "Petras." Once obtaining a "Petra," a player must assist his or her party in killing one of the opposing team's members. Once a player has succeeded in killing one of the members of the opposing team, he or she obtains what is known as the "Gate Breach" status which will last for 3 minutes. The player must then reach a scoring goal post known as a "Rook" and throw (by activation) their "Petras" into a "Rook." A total of 5 Petras may be thrown in per "Gate Breach" status, and there is no specific limit of number of Petras a player may hold at any given time. There are always two Rooks on the field but the Rooks are not team specific and can accept Petras from either team. Should a player die while carrying any Petras, a player will loose all Petras that he or she was carrying.
In-game controversy
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Being a game driven by real-people, Final Fantasy XI has opened itself to numerous player-to-player controversies. Although nothing serious by real life standards, some beliefs have caused an uproar in the community, such as stereotypical beliefs of inferiority to certain jobs and races. The most common example of this would be the widespread (and possibly true) belief that the Dragoon class is far inferior to every other damage dealer (DD) and that Ranger is far superior to every other DD.
Job Classes
While Final Fantasy XI allows a player to adopt any combination of a job and support job in theory, the reality of the game is that for any given job, there are at most a handful of subjobs preferred for party play. The Paladin, for example, usually has Warrior as a subjob because it enhances their abilities to act as a 'Tank' in parties.
There are also minor issues about Job popularity. As there are 6 slots in a party, Party makeup is usually (but not limited to) 1 Tank, 1 Healer, 1 Enfeebler/Backup Healer/Buffer, 3 Damage Dealers. Paladins and Ninjas are usually considered for the Tank slot (Warrior and Monk may also be considered but are mush less popular choices). White Mages, Red Mages, Summoners and Bards are usually considered for the Healer/Backup Healer/Enfeebler/Buffer slots. This leaves 3 slots to be filled by Black Mages, Rangers, Monks, Thiefs, Samurai, Warriors, Dragoon and Dark Knight.
With certain jobs (such as Black Mages and Rangers etc) perceived as more desirable due to their high damage dealing capacity, some other jobs may find greater difficulty in receiving a party invite simply because of the sheer number of people competing for the same slots.
Sometimes the game designers originally intend for a job to be played a certain way, but due to new content, the nature of the job changes. An example is the fact that Warriors were originally designed to be secondary tanks, with paladins as main tanks. However, when the Ninja was introduced in Rise of the Zilart, the Ninja job was able to tank better then the Warrior job using a technique commonly called 'Blink Tanking'. Properly executed, the Ninja could potentially be damage free and thus is now listed higher then the Warrior in the preferred list for Tanks.
Nerfs or other tweaks to the game can often "break" a job, or change game mechanics. Four examples are of note:
- The fixing of a flaw that allowed for per-hit TP accumulation during a multistrike weapon skill was considered to break many popular Dragoon and Monk builds which relied on using multistrike skills repeatedly for high damage, with the prior strike fueling the next.
- The addition of the "Trial Size" avatar challenges, which allow Summoners to obtain the avatars through a solo challenge once they have reached level 20 Summoner.
- The change in dynamics and damage calculation for ranged attacks. Recent patches introduced a new formula for calculating ranged attacks; the new formula now considers the distance the ranged attack is made from, type of weapon used, as well as level difference between the player and the monster. In order to achieve a similar level of damage dealing (pre patch), the ranged attack will now need to be used at the appropriate distance.
- A recent patch also made it so that the Ninjutsu spell "Utsusemi" lost enmity towards the Ninja when it is attacked. This meant that Ninjas would now require to make use of more Ninjutsu tools to keep enmity.
Finally, some rumours have caused jobs to be misunderstood. An example being the Beastmaster, which used to have been avoided by parties due to a belief made popular by a well known game guide that the Beastmaster's pets cause a 30% experience point penalty against the party. This is untrue as the experience penalty only applies to the Beastmaster himself. After level 35, the Beastmaster may release the pet just before the enemy monster is killed. This will eliminate the 30% experience penalty from the Beastmaster. If he or she is using a pet that is higher level then the highest level member of the party, the party will receive experience rated as if the party contained a member of that level. As it is very difficult to maintain control of a pet that is higher level than the Beastmaster, this is a situation rarely experienced, as attempting to do so would put a party at risk.
Real Money Trade for Game Items
Like most MMORPGs, Final Fantasy XI has a "real" economy trade, where some players will agree to trade in-game items and money for real money, such as the United States dollar. Players who sell in-game items and money are frequently refered to as "gilsellers" or "gilfarmers" and are generally seen as being disruptive to the game world. Square Enix refers to this practice as "Real Money Trade" or "RMT," which is officially against their Terms of Service [1].
It is widely believed that there are organized groups playing the game which participate in RMT. The members of these groups are generally called gilfarmers: from gil, the in-game currency, and farming, common MMORPG slang for actively hunting for in-game items and money. Gilfarmer groups will usually attempt to monopolize a resource by maintaining players stationed around the ___location where the resource spawns at all times. These groups frequently use various disruptive tatics to maintain a monopoly on a given resource, such as "Monster Player Killing" or "MPK," where groups of monsters that will attack players are brought over to another group in the hopes that the monsters can be made to attack the other group.
Many players characterize these groups as "Chinese gilfarmers," believing that they work for Chinese-based sweatshops which employ people to play the game soley for the purpose of gaining in-game money and items. This belief is usually based on the article Black Snow Interactive and the World's First Virtual Sweat Shop, although there is little substantive evidence that such companies are active within Final Fantasy XI. While the existance of organized sweatshops may be in question, there is little doubt that there are indeed groups of gilfarmers within the game.
Some companies purchase and sell in-game money and items for real world money. Many players believe that the source of the items and money they sell come from the previously described gilfarming groups.
Real money trade is often seen as harmful for reasons beyond the disruptive tatics usually used by gilfarming groups, as it causes economic inflation by increasing the currency supply. However, not all players believe that real money trade is bad, some players believe that they should be allowed to purchase items if they do not wish to spend the time within the game working towards the items. While almost all players would agree that disrupting others' gameplay to obtain items is harmful to the game, it remains controversial whether or not the simple trade of items for real money is to be considered morally wrong.
Casinos
Player operated "casinos" have recently become a source of in-game controversy. The command (/random) utilizes a random number generator to randomly select a number from 0 to 999. Using the (/trade) command players exchange gil to another player in the role of the "house." They then use (/random) to generate a number. If the player rolls higher than a certain number (usually 599) they win and they are paid back 2:1. Otherwise, the "house" wins and the player loses their gil.
There is nothing in-game that insures that a player will be paid by the house if he wins. The player acting as the "house" has to use the (/trade) command for the gambler to get his/her money back. The "house" does not always pay.
The controversy has arisen from players losing their money.
MPK
MPK, a shortened version of "Monster Player Kill", is a common occurance in Final Fantasy XI, most often used by the "gil sellers" to remove rival players camping the same big money "Notorious Monster" from the area so that they can claim it themselves, and claim the spoils from the monster to use for RMT purposes. However, it is also used by actual players in "revenge" attacks, or simply for the same reason as the "gil sellers", to remove rival campers from the area to claim the spoils for themselves.